


A Satisfying Conclusion

by straightforwardly



Category: Emma - Jane Austen
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 00:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9691913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightforwardly/pseuds/straightforwardly
Summary: One warm afternoon, Emma finds herself surprised by Harriet.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xenoglossy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenoglossy/gifts).



> The idea from this treat mostly came from your desires for Emma's lesbian awakening + Emma getting to kiss a woman.
> 
> Set during sometime in the middle of the book.

It all happened very suddenly.

Emma and Harriet were sitting together on a bench outside, having sufficiently convinced Mr. Woodhouse that it was quite warm enough to do so, and assuring him that they would of course wear their shawls. It was indeed a warm day, and though they had brought their shawls along with them for verisimilitude they had discarded them almost instantly. 

It was a day for walking, but it found the two girls bent over a book instead. A shocking occurrence, to be sure, but it had only been the day before that Mr. Knightley had teased Emma over the swift abandonment of her reading project, and she was quite determined to prove him wrong. But the effort of doing so on such a day, when so many more pleasurable pursuits could be done, took its toll on her, and Emma, ready to admit defeat (though, of course, not planning to put it in those terms), lifted her head from her book and turned to Harriet. 

She found Harriet already gazing at her, her own book already abandoned, the warmth of the sun creating a becoming flush on her cheeks.

Then it happened: without sign or warning, Harriet leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth.

Emma knew little of kissing, and less of being kissed. It was something she had always associated either with marriage, which conflicted utterly with her plans of growing into a comfortable spinsterhood, or with romantic dalliances, which she felt herself above even if there had been an eligible young man in the neighbourhood. 

So it was with some surprise that she discovered that kissing was in fact very nice. Harriet’s lips were soft and warm— and gone all too soon.

Emma opened her eyes (only then first becoming aware that she had closed them at all), and found Harriet staring wide-eyed and mortified at her.

“Oh, I do beg your pardon!” Harriet cried. “I cannot believe that I am acting the schoolgirl again! It is only— you are _so_ very pretty, Miss Woodhouse, and charming, and all that is good— I forgot myself.”

Emma did not feel very keen on allowing Harriet to remember herself. She also felt, for the first time, that Harriet knew something she did not, and this did not sit well with her. 

“Acting the schoolgirl?” she repeated, very cool, arching a brow. She was very proud of pulling this effect off, as her heart was beating rather wildly, and she was having some difficulty keeping herself from staring at Harriet’s mouth.

“Oh, I suppose that isn’t the proper way of saying it,” said Harriet with no small amount of distress. “It is only, I used to, with Miss Marshall— or the then Miss Marshall, she is Mrs. Rogers now— and then she got married, and when I— well, she said she was married now, and so—”

This jumble of utterances was too much for Harriet; her speech faded and lapsed into a confused silence. Emma listened more closely than she let on, and pieced together what she could.

Then, with a show of confidence— really, why did her hands insist on trembling so?— she said, “Really, Harriet— do not be so silly! It was not this Mrs. Rogers leaving the schoolroom that put an end to your— interludes; it was her marriage. And you might note that neither one of us is married.”

Harriet looked doubtful. “But she said—”

“Harriet,” said Emma, very firm. “Who do you think knows more: this Mrs. Rogers, or me?”

Doubt turned to anguished startlement. “Oh, _you_ , Miss Woodhouse!” Harriet cried. “Oh, how could I have ever said— she doesn’t hold a _candle_ to you!”

Emma was very pleased by this pronouncement. “Then you understand.”

“Perfectly,” Harriet assured her. She hesitated, her gaze dropping back down to Emma’s mouth. Her blush deepened. “Then, if it is really alright— do you think—”

Emma was not about to let Harriet take charge twice. She drew Harriet close to her, and kissed her again, and ensured that this time, it did not end too soon.

It was, she felt, a very satisfying conclusion to the afternoon.


End file.
